Saturday, June 21, 2008

Weekly Saturday activity update: 10 weeks to go until the quest begins. Two different grown-up parties to attend today. Retreating to the basement at the afternoon party to view the Diamond Dawgs' own quest for the CWS Championship series will not likely be received well, but these things happen. I do plan to be in the Classic City by midnight tonight to catch my little brother's band Gift Horse playing at Athfest (Little Kings Pub, midnight), so all's well that ends well.

Bo Fowler, LS6-2, 215, Union Point GA (Greene Co HS), Sr.Fowler wears #59, sharing that number with Michael Lemon. We've bumped him up a few spots to preview him today. Fowler came from Greene County HS, not far from Athens, where he was named RayleEMC Lineman of the Week on 2 different occasions, as well as captaining the Special Teams for what has historically been a pretty strong GHSA football program. In his first 3 seasons at UGA, he primarily served as the backup long snapper, no doubt a thankless job. Then, shortly before the Sugar Bowl trouncing commenced in January 2008, Fowler got his chance when Jeff Henson (the starting long snapper) was suspended for legal issues. As I recall, he was flawless in that game. It should also be pointed out that Fowler is a fine student.Depth Chart Analysis: Henson is also a senior this year, and he's back and suspension free. That likely means that Fowler is relegated to backup duty once again. I've always thought long snapping was one of the more difficult things to do consistently. I've probably "hiked" a tight spiral that hit a guy in the chest only once in my entire life. Seriously, it doesn't hurt to have 2 good ones ready to go. It is very possible that at some point this season, UGA will be punting with a 1 to 6 point lead late in a ball game. Or, down two and kicking a late field goal to win the game. The Dawgs could be one botched snap away from a loss. Solid long snappers are a luxury to have. Having two of them is like gold.